1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to retainer ring installation tools, and more particularly to an installation tool for mounting a retainer ring into an annular groove formed around the exterior of the lower periphery of a sink drain fitting conformed to engage a food refuse disposal device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The process of replacement and mounting a food refuse macerator, sometimes referred to as a garbage disposal, to the lower drain portions of a kitchen sink entails complex engagement geometries that need to be effected within the very tight and narrow confines of a sink cabinet and is therefore a difficult and cumbersome task. Simply, the disposal is usually a fairly heavy item as it typically requires a robust electrical motor tied to various gearing components, all housed in a sealed enclosure to extend a drive end engaged to the cutting mechanism into a wet cavity that communicates with the sink drain. To simplify the mounting process of this cumbersome equipment piece those sink drain fittings that are intended to support the disposal are typically provided with a lower end that includes an exterior ring groove in which a retainer ring is mounted to support a disposal mounting flange. It is this mounting flange that then includes the typical engagement projections to which the disposal is keyed.
While the currently available disposals that are offered by the several fabricators are typically quite rugged their repeated household use takes its toll nonetheless and the replacement thereof is now a fairly frequent event. Since this eventual replacement is often preceded by fairly long periods of use of a disposal that is operated with some damage the drain fitting itself is often also damaged by repeated periods of asymmetric or unbalanced loads. Good practice therefore requires that the fitting be replaced along with the disposal. Any tool complement that is useful in assisting the disposal installation task should therefore also include the tools for the drain fitting replacement and the in particular, the attachment of the mounting flange thereon.
In the past I have described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,024,743 and 7,140,086 an adjustable supporting mechanism on which heavy items like a disposal can be lifted to mate up with the mounting flange, a mechanism that is particularly conformed to the tight dimensions below a sink. By virtue of its adjustment facility this mechanism allows for convenient attachment of the disposal throat to the mounting flange by a single worker. Others, in turn, have devised various forms of hand tools which in one way or another assist in the installation of retaining rings into the ring grooves formed in the lower parts of a sink drain to secure the mounting flange thereon exemplified by the teachings of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,185,408 to Keith; 5,177,853 to Herook; 4,411,054 to Zeilenga; and U.S. patent application publications 2003/0192162 and 2002/0138963 both by Ramirez.
While the foregoing, and the other, prior art installation tools are each suitable for the purposes intended, it will be appreciated that it is when the sink drain fitting is loose and unsecured in its drain placement that the ring installation is being attempted. Simply, all the ring installation manipulations are in the tight confines of the cabinet below the sink bowl into which the lower part of the drain fitting with the ring groove thereon extends and since the retainer ring is there to secure the mounting flange that also is used to fix the drain fitting to the sink bowl of necessity either two workers are needed, one to hold the fitting to the sink while the other tries to fit the ring from below, or some other mechanism is required to hold the drain fitting while the ring is mounted.
In those prior art instances where an alignment structure is provided for the ring installation process, as in the teachings of the '408, '853 and '054 patents above, the alignment is referenced to the drain fitting that at is then loosely hanging in the sink drain. Alternatively, where there is no referencing structure for the ring expansion tool, as in the Ramirez published applications above, the worker needs to insert both his or her arms into the tight confines below the sink, one arm to hold the lower drain fitting portion while mounting the ring with the other hand. Of course, these tight working conditions preclude any effective control over the drain fitting alignment within the drain opening, disturbing often the sealant bed that is laid around the drain opening and therefore inviting the chances of eventual leakage.
A fixed, base mounted alignment tool that is useful within the narrow confines below a sink to guide the movements of the retainer ring installation, together with an adaptive ring holder structure that is easily controlled by one hand, are therefore extensively desired and it is one such tool that is disclosed herein.